Pencils, Pancakes and a Super Secret Plan!
by LeopardSeal
Summary: How did Kurt end up with a school picture of Blaine mere days after first meeting him? Just a little flashback one-shot set during series 2 'Never Been Kissed'


It was a typical lazy Sunday morning in the Hummel-Anderson Household. Kurt was stood in the wide, open-plan kitchen by the stove, expertly flipping pancakes and sipping at a steaming mug of coffee whilst humming quietly to himself. His children were flopped down at the large wooden table with glasses of orange in front of them waiting expectantly for pancakes. A 9 year old boy with a mass of black curls and huge hazel eyes was staring off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts; his 13 year old sister was sitting with her long slender legs draped across the opposite chair, her bright blue eyes attached to her phone.

Kurt glanced over to his husband who was just visible in the connected living room, strumming slowly on his guitar from the large black sofa, his tongue was sticking out and his eyes were furrowed in concentration; he would stop every now and then to amend something on the paper in front of him before continuing to shape a melody from his mind to his guitar. Kurt giggled as he noticed the number of pencils Blaine had managed to get stuck in his unruly hair, he would pick up a pencil to amend the music in front of him and then absent mindedly place it in his hair for safekeeping; next time he needed a pencil he would forget about the one in his hair and grab another from the holder in the centre of the coffee table. It was one of the many perks of no-gel Sundays.

"Hey Pops?" Nathan suddenly broke the comfortable silence

"Hmm?" Kurt mumbled, acknowledging that he was listening.

"Why is the word courage, cut out from magazines, framed and on the wall?" the boy questioned, as if he had only just noticed the wall decoration. Eliza Hummel-Anderson briefly looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes at her brother, he was well known for living in his own world and not noticing the obvious, a bit like his father.

Kurt laughed softly to himself before turning towards the living room, "Hey B! Your son wants to know why we have framed random bits of magazine that spell the word courage".

Blaine grinned as he put down his guitar; he stretched his arms upwards and scraped a hand back through the unruly tangle of curls that lay atop his head, a confused look appeared on his face when 5 pencils dropped out on to the floor. He sauntered over to his husband, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. "How has he only just noticed that? It's been there since before he was born!"

"Yeah I am still in the room Dad" Nathan said, folding his arms

Kurt laughed as he leaned back into his husbands embrace "Probably because he has the burden of sharing your DNA which must have some code wired in that reads 'Must be particularly absent minded and oblivious to the world around them!"

"Oi, what do you mean by burden exactly?" Blaine joked back.

Eliza flicked her long chestnut hair behind her shoulder, "I'm sure you were setting us up for a story?..." she prompted, not even breaking eye contact with her phone and the endless stream of messages she was sending her friends.

"Oh yeah, go on B, it is mainly your story to tell" Kurt said as he lightly elbowed Blaine's waist behind him.

"Okay okay, well it was back when I had just met your Pops here…."

**FLASHBACK: (Just after Blaine and Kurt confront Karofsky on the steps in 'Never been kissed')**

"Come on, I'll buy you lunch" Blaine said, nudging Kurt's shoulder with his elbow. He couldn't believe he had only known Kurt Hummel for 3 days; they had an instant connection and after the events of yesterday all Blaine wanted to do was drag Kurt into his car and take him as far away from William McKinley High School as possible. If he had the money he would pay for Kurt's Dalton fees himself, but he didn't so the best he could do for now was lunch.

Kurt had been silent for the whole of the short drive to the Lima Bean; Blaine had tried to initiate conversation but had quickly given up, not wanting to push Kurt more than necessary.

"Hey, come here" Blaine said as they walked through the parking lot, he pulled the taller boy into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around him and giving him a squeeze. They had never hugged before and Blaine found himself enjoying the feeling of Kurt wrapped around him. Blaine felt some of the tension leave Kurt's body as he leaned against him, his breath tickling at his ear as he breathed out a long held breath. "Come on" Blaine murmured, "It'll be okay". They pulled apart and made their way into the comfortable coffee shop.

Ten minutes later they were sat at a table with coffee and sandwiches, Blaine had managed to get a small smile out of Kurt as they discussed the latest issue of Vogue. Suddenly Kurt seemed to remember where he was and what had happened, his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh as he stared into the deep golden orbs that were Blaine's eyes.

"Courage, Kurt" Blaine said, not breaking eye contact with the bright blue, slightly watery eyes of the boy in front of him.

"I know, I know….and when you're here and I can look at you I believe you, but afterwards, when you're back at Dalton and I'm back at that stupid school then I know I will feel differently. Courageous will be the last thing I'm feeling"

Blaine offered a weak smile, he didn't really know what to say, perhaps there was nothing to say in these circumstances, all he wanted to do was make the boy in front of him smile again. For some indescribable reason Blaine had to get Kurt smiling again. The small sparks of an idea started to form in Blaine's mind….he had all the materials he needed in his car…..Time to instigate a super-secret plan!

"Come on then, I need to get you back to school, and I have to get back for warblers practice", Kurt's face fell even more as he started to drag himself from his chair and over to the door.

Within minutes they were back outside McKinley High School. "Ring me tonight, and don't forget to have fun at Glee!" Blaine patted Kurt on the knee and flashed him the biggest smile he could muster. "Hmm, yeah ok….Thanks for lunch, and for coming all this way, you really didn't have to" Kurt mumbled opening the door.

"Hey shush, I wanted to silly; I've been where you are remember, and I hated not having anyone around who understood, plus, I like spending time with you" Blaine grinned. He was rewarded with a small smile from Kurt as he turned around to shut the door. "Thanks Blaine, see you later."

"Bye Kurt!" Blaine waved through the glass as he drove away, parking around the back of school next to the football field; he was pretty sure Kurt wouldn't be heading to this side of the school that afternoon.

Blaine turned the radio on and started singing along to 'Teenage Dream', his mind drifted off for a few minutes, remembering how he had sung this song moments after meeting Kurt. He smiled as he remembered singing to him, those beautiful blue eyes sparkling with surprise and happiness, almost causing him to forget the lyrics.

The song came to a close and he snapped out of his reverie and turned to fish last month's issue of Vogue out of the back seat. He idly flipped through the pages until he came across a large C; smiling to himself he carefully ripped it out and put it to one side, he continued to flip through the magazine looking for letters, occasionally stopping to read parts as he hummed along to the radio. An hour later and he had accumulated 7 letters in a neat pile. Blaine checked the clock, he still had another hour and a half before he could risk going inside.

Blaine picked his phone up and scrolled through his favourites; he put his phone to his ear and listened to the ringing.

W: "Blaine! Where are you? Jeff said you skipped Geometry and we couldn't find you at lunch!"

B: "Hey Wes, yeah sorry about that, Kurt needed me; if anyone asks then I'm ill."

W: "oh he _needed_ you did he!"

B: "oh come on, it's not like that, you know he's going through a hard time"

W: "yeah, some guy you barely know is going through a hard time and you take off and drive over an hour to his rescue?"

B: "that sounds about right" Blaine said defensively, there were some things about his previous high school experience he hadn't chosen to share with his friends; they knew he had moved for bullying, they just didn't know the extent.

W: "whatever, anyway, why did you call me?"

B: "oh yeah, erm, basically I'm not gonna be back in time for practice, and as my favourite council member I was wondering if you would let me off?"

W: "well Anderson, flattery will get you everywhere"

B: "I'll bear that in mind"

W: "and it doesn't look like I have much choice "

B: "Nope"

W: "well then, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow? And you best have some new song ideas or David will be pissed and I might have to beat you with my gavel"

B: "yeah don't worry, I always have something up my sleeve"

W: "Okay, see you tomorrow then!"

B: "Laters Wes!"

Blaine put his phone down and shut his eyes, he had time for a rest and maybe he would think up some new song ideas whilst he was relaxing.

At 5.00pm Blaine decided it should now be safe to enter the school. He had changed in the back of the car from his Dalton uniform into the gym gear that lived in his car. He entered through what looked like the men's locker room outside door, making sure his plain red top was zipped above the grey Dalton Academy T-shirt he was wearing underneath. As he expected the room was empty, he had spotted the football team running around on one of the outer fields on his way in. He quickly made his way out on to the main corridor and started looking in classrooms for the Janitor.

Finally he spotted someone mopping in what appeared to be a geography classroom. He made his way to the door and cleared his throat. "Can I help you?" The man had stopped mopping when he had heard Blaine's presence; students didn't often approach him outside of school hours.

"Yes Sir, I've just finished football practice and I seem to have misplaced my locker key, you wouldn't happen to have a master key on you would you?" Blaine asked politely and gave the man one of his winning smiles.

The janitor was taken aback by the politeness of the young man, most of the kids in this school looked at him like he was their personal servant. "I do have a key yes, I'm not supposed to lend it out to you kids though, you're supposed to go to the school office during the day."

"oh, yeah, sorry, I must have forgotten" Blaine said with an obvious tinge of disappointment in his voice, all he had wanted to do was cheer Kurt up a bit, and now it looked like it was all for nothing.

"But you seem like a nice kid, and luckily for you I'm running a little early today so I have the time. What number locker are you?" The janitor asked as he pulled out the largest ring of keys Blaine had ever seen.

"Errrrm, 206" Blaine said, kicking himself for not replying faster, he had stood next to Kurt as he had picked up his belongings from his locker just this morning.

"206 eh?" The man replied with his eyebrows raised, "Come on then".

Blaine followed the janitor back down the hall until he found himself back in front of Kurt's locker. The janitor jingled with his keys before pulling a small silver one away from the rest of the bunch. He quickly opened the door and turned to Blaine "I'll give you a moment with _you_r locker" he smiled, flashing Blaine a quick wink as he sauntered back down the corridor.

Blaine grinned as he pulled open the door, revealing the contents of Kurt's locker; he wasn't going to pry, it wasn't his style. All he needed was the back of the locker door. He carefully moved some of the decorations tacked to the inside to leave a large empty gap in the centre of the door. He carefully took out the letters he had ripped form his magazine earlier and began to tack them to the space.

COURAGE

Blaine then reached back into his bag and pulled out a large brown envelope, today had been his lucky day; he had received his prints from the annual school photo shoot. He took out one of the copies that was mounted in a thin black frame and carefully attached it to the back of the locker door using plenty of tack. It wasn't the photo he would have chosen but it was the only one available and would have to do. He stepped back to admire his handiwork; ok so the overall effect was a little cheesy, and he supposed a bit weird considering that he had known the boy less than a week but he was sure that Kurt would see where he was coming from.

He carefully shut the locker door and turned round to find the janitor leaning against the lockers smirking at him. "Finished getting your books?" he questioned with a smile on his face.

Blaine didn't really know what to say, he had obviously just been caught red handed not getting books from a locker. "Hey kid its fine, I knew straight away you weren't on the football team, I watch all their games and so know those kids faces quite well."

"w-w-why did you give me the key then?" Blaine stammered, not quite sure where the janitor was going.

"I saw you earlier with Burt Hummel's boy; he's a nice kid and really doesn't deserve the crap he gets put through here. He's one of the few that will acknowledge me when I'm around and you guys seemed like friends earlier so I thought I'd see what you were up to."

"And what did you think about what I was up to?" Blaine asked, his confidence returning to him.

"I thought it was sweet, you obviously care about the kid and I'm glad he's found someone." The Janitor smiled as he locked the door to the locker and patted Blaine on the shoulder before heading back down the corridor.

Blaine turned around and headed toward the parking lot, he couldn't wait for Kurt to discover his locker in the morning.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

Kurt held his head high as he made his way down the corridor the next morning, it was easy to have courage this early in the day; school didn't start for another half hour and so the only kids hanging around were the over-eager types on their way to the library. Early morning football practice was just finishing and players were flooding out of the men's locker room and into the corridor. Kurt shrank back to the lockers and tried to make himself as small as possible… "Who you looking at homo?" was quickly followed by a rough shove. Kurt found himself being smashed into the side of the lockers, pain shooting through his shoulder and down his arm. He looked up to see David Karofsky shooting him a look of pure hate as he continued his way down the corridor.

Kurt picked himself up and brushed off his mustard yellow cardigan, he wouldn't cry in front of them, he wouldn't even acknowledge them. "Courage, come on Kurt! Courage!" he muttered to himself under his breath. It wasn't working though, he could feel tears pricking in his eyes, he quickly walked to his locker, hands shaking as he struggled with the stiff lock, finally getting the door open…

The sob that had been threatening to escape Kurt's lips was forced back by a gasp of surprise at the sight in front of him. A small giggle escaped his lips as he gazed adoringly at the picture of the handsome warbler that now took up a large portion of his locker door; suddenly the pain in his shoulder didn't feel so bad and his legs didn't feel half as shaky. COURAGE.

Kurt wiped his face, unable to control the grin that had crept across his lips; he reached into his bag for his phone and quickly fired off a text to Blaine.

K: Somebody broke into my locker last night!

B: oh no! I hope they didn't cause too much damage! :p

K: No everything is in its place, they did however leave behind a picture of a handsome warbler and some bits of paper that look suspiciously like they were ripped from last month's vogue :D

B: haha! Any suspects?

K: well judging by the picture I'd say that we're looking for someone with black hair (and a gel addiction) and hazel eyes who judging by the uniform attends Dalton Academy. And from the letters I'm guessing somebody who buys Vogue but doesn't consider it heresy to defile the pages :p

B: I'll ask around…

K: Seriously though, thank you. I was having a crappy morning, already had one run in with the Neanderthal and this has made my day :D

B: Glad you liked it, I was a little nervous about what you'd think.

K: I love it. Class is starting, best go. Chat later?

B: Anytime :D

**Present Day:**

Blaine closed his arms tightly again around his husband as the story came to a close.

"Dad…that was SO lame" Nathan said with an eyeroll.

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and burst out laughing. Kurt glanced over at their daughter who had remained oddly quiet. She had stopped texting and was staring at the letters in the frame on the wall. "Where's the picture?" Eliza questioned looking at her dads with a small smile on her face.

"It's the one on top of the piano" Kurt said gently, rubbing his husband's arms that were still attached around his waist.

"Dad, how did you not realise?" She then questioned.

"Realise what?" Asked Nathan quickly

Blaine smiled over at his daughter "How did I not realise that I was madly in love with your Pops?"

Eliza nodded slowly "Even the janitor could tell!" Nathan was looking at her like she was some sort of alien, she had obviously heard a very different story to him.

Kurt laughed at this little exchange " I told you! Oblivious to the world around him, took him about 5 months, a couple of romantic duets and the death of a beloved pet before he came to his senses!"

The children both laughed as Blaine spun his husband around so that they were facing each other, he then launched into a well- practiced rendition of one of his all-time favourite songs.

"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream" Blaine crooned

Kurt bust out laughing "You are such a loser!"

"I'm your loser though!" replied Blaine with a smirk as he pulled his husband in for a long kiss.

"Ewww PDA!" both kids squealed dramatically, like they did every time their dads did anything more than a peck on the lips.

"Come on guys" Eliza huffed, her dads showing no signs of breaking apart.

"Fiiinnne, looks like I'm finishing these pancakes!" she eventually said, pushing her dads out of the kitchen so she at least wouldn't have to watch them.

"They are so disgusting, kissing looks nasty! Why would you even do that with someone?" Nathan piped up. Eliza just smiled at him and ruffled his loose black curls. "Don't worry Dorkface, I don't think anyone will want to do that to you anyway! "


End file.
